Usually
regarded
as
an
annoyance
at
cleaning
time,
this
humble
substance
actually
plays
an
important
role
in
everything
from
the
formation
of
stars
to
the
falling
of
rain.
A
new
book
by
noted
science
writer
Hannah
Holmes
proves
that
the
subject
of
dust
is
anything
but
dry.
In
The
Secret
Life
of
Dust,
Holmes
tells
us
that
the
substance
--
which
comes
in
a
bewildering
array
of
shapes,
sizes
and
compositions
--
may
also
be
responsible
for
the
extinction
of
several
species,
including
the
dinosaurs
and,
perhaps
in
time,
our
own.
Holmes'
fascinating
and
deeply
researched
account
assembles
the
views
of
a
number
of
scientists
who
devoted
their
careers
to
studying
this
omnipresent
substance.
Dust
coalesced
billions
of
years
ago
to
form
the
first
stars,
which
in
turn
manufactured
heavier
atoms
such
as
carbon,
the
basic
building
block
of
terrestrial
life.
When
stars
explode,
they
shatter
into
huge
glowing
clouds
of
gas
and
dust
that
become
nurseries
for
new
stars.
Dark
clouds
of
interstellar
dust,
though,
can
block
earthbound
telescopes
and
obscure
these
and
other
celestial
marvels.
A
good
deal
of
dust
is
manmade.
As
Holmes
reveals,
people
don't
just
create
it
through
agriculture
and
industry.
Like
Pigpen
in
the
Peanuts
comic
strip,
each
of
us
walks
the
earth
in
a
cloud
of
dust,
shedding
fragments
of
skin
and
bits
of
lint
torn
from
our
clothes
through
friction.
With
all
that
dust
around,
Holmes'
look
at
the
hazards
it
can
pose
is
rather
unsettling.
A
more
immediate
threat
than
some
far-off
nuclear
winter,
dust
of
various
kinds
kills
people
every
day
all
over
the
world.
Lung
diseases
such
as
silicosis
affect
desert
dwellers
who
inhale
tiny
sand
particles;
people
contract
cancer
from
secondhand
smoke;
and
babies
play
on
floors
that
are
the
inevitable
destination
of
gravity-bound
lead
and
chemical
dusts.
A
welcome
addition
to
The
Secret
Life
of
Dust
is
an
appendix
of
Web
sites
that
illustrate
Holmes'
intriguing
revelations
about
the
topic.
A
gifted
writer,
Holmes
turns
a
seemingly
unremarkable
substance
into
the
stuff
of
a
great
story.
Gregory
Harris
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